Mold shut-off arrangement



Oct. 18, 1966 D. E. MEvEs ETAL 3,279,002

MOLD SHUT-OFF ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 9, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Cgi PR/ORART Oct. y18, 1966 D, E. MEvEs ETAL 3,279,002

MOLD SHUT-OFF ARRANGEMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Flled Deo. 9, 1963 ff?Kenia/1s United States Patent O 3,279,002 MOLD SHUT-OFF ARRANGEMENTDonald E. Meves, Alliance, Ohio, and William Richard Fenzan, Oak Lawn.Ill., assignors to Amsted Industries Incorporated, Chicago, Ill., acorporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 328,847 9 Claims.(Cl. 22-79) The present invention relates to a .mold shut-ottarrangement and particularly such an arrangement adapted for use inconnection with pressure pouring.

The mold shut-off arrangement of the present invention is particularlyadapted to use with a car runing along a track and carrying .a mold, thecar being moved to a pouring station in which -a pouring tube is placedand connected with the mold, and the molten metal in the ladle fromwhich the pouring tube leads is forced by pressure upwardly through thepouring tube int-o the mold. When the mold is iilled, a shut-oit slideis moved to shut off the mold from the pouring tube.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel throwaway or one-timeuse shut-ott slide for use in casting apparatus of the foregoingcharacter.

Another and .more specific object is to provide a shutoff slide of thecharacter mentioned which is made entirely of iron or steel andconsequently Iof small dimensions and correspondingly inexpensive,whereby t-o enable economic one-time use thereof.

Another object is to provide a shut-oft" slide of the charactermentioned and particularly one of small dimensions whereby t-o minimizeor to substantially eliminate turbulence of the molten metal andtendency thereof to migrate into the spaces between the relativelymovable members that make up the shut-off slide assembly.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing detailed description taken in oonjunction with theaccompanying -detailed drawings in which:

FIGURE l is a vertical sec-tional View of a shut-off slide assembly ofknown `kind and included herein for the purpose of pointing up theadvantages of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view of a shut-olf slide assemblyaccording to the present invention in association with a mold indica-tedin dot-dash lines;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2, but showing ya slightly modiiiedform of mold having a chill plate;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken at line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is ra fragmentary detail view of a formation on the shut-offslide adapted for strengthening purposes in the sliding opera-tion ofthe slide;

FIGURE 6 is a View similar to FIGURE 5 showing a modified form thereof;

FIGURE 7 shows another modied form of slide construction;

FIGURE 8 illustrates still another modified form; and

FIGURE 9 is a view from the right of FIGURE 8.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, attention is directed iirst toFIGURE l showin-g a known form of shut-off slide assembly. In thisfigure, the reference numeral 10 refers to an assembly -including ashut-oh" slide and associated parts mounted in a car indicated generallyat 12. The car 12 may be any of various types, such for example, as thatshown in United States Patent No. 3,090,090 .issued May l2, 1963, tolames Woodburn, Jr., and is represented here by a single element in theform of the top deck 14 thereof supporting a mold 16 of known kindhaving one -or more cavities 18. The car 12 is mounted on suitablewheels .and runs along -tracks to a pouring station where 'a pouringytube 20 having a cen- 3,279,002 Patented Oct. 18, 1966 ICC tral passage22 .is in register with -a passage 24 through the assembly Y1t), asdescribed more in detail herein below, and therethrough with the cavityor cavities 18 of the mold. After the pouring operation is completed,the car is moved out of the pouring station and another car is movedthereinto.

The assembly 10 of known type, as stated, generally includes three mainelements through which :the passage 24 is formed. rI'hese main elementsare xa support 26, a slide plate 28, and -a top plate 30. These threemain elements or components of the assembly 10 may be reduced .to twowhich may be used in conjunction with the sm-all shut-ott slide plate ofthe present invention, and form an assembly extremely more simple thanthe assembly 10, as described below. In the assembly 10, the support 26is secured to the undersurface of the car deck 14. This plate has arecess 32 in which the slide plate 28 is slidably mounted, and a secondrecess 34 abofve the `recess 32, in which the top plate 30 is mounted.The support 26, and thus the Iassembly, is secured to the car deck bysuitable means such as bolts 36 threaded into the car deck 14. The slideplate 28 and the top plate 30 are of necessity acc-urately dimensioned.in thickness so that those two elements together with t-he support 26tit laccurately .together without undue spaces betwen those elements. Acore 38 is fitted in the central openings in the elements 26, 28, and 30which defines a continuous passage 24 therethrough from the pouring tubeinto the mold.

The foregoing description of FIGURE 1 stands in contrast to the presentinvention illustrated in FIGURES 2 t-o 9 and described herein below.Referring -rst to FIG- URE 2, lthe same car deck 14 is illustrated andthe support 26 is secured to the undersurface of the car deck, andimmediately above the support `26 .is the top plate 30. I-t will benoted that the slide plate, such as 428 referred to above, is absentfrom the present illustration, and the top plate directly engages and issupported by the support 26. The core 38 is also shown in this figure,but is of lesser height to correspond with the thickness or verticaldimension of the two elements, the support 26 and the top plate 30,together. IIf desired, the core 38 may be made of sections, as disclosedand claimed in the copending application of John A. Rassenfoss andDonald E. Meves, Serial No. 327,7'516 filed December 3, 1963.

In substitution of the shut-ofi slide 28 of the old form of apparatus,the present invention includes a shut-ott slide plate 40 which will bedescribed in detail herein below, but for present purposes it may bestated that it is made up entirely of metal, such as iron or steel, andis of extremely small dimensions and particularly small thickness, suchas 1A lor less. This slide plate 40, in the form of FIGURE 2, isinterposed directly between the mold 16 and the top plate 30. The mold16 is a chill mold having, for example, graphite blocks dening thecavity 18. The slide plate 40 is fitted in a hole formed between -themold and the assembly 10 by formin-g grooves in either one or both ofthose members of a combined depth t-o accommodate the thickness of theslide plate. For eX- ample, yin FIGURE 2, a groove 42 is formed in thecore 38, in the assembly 10, this gro-ove forming -a flat hole,rectangular in cross section oor-responding to the cross sectional shapeand size of the slide plate.

Preferably, the core 38, which normally is of refractory material, is ofsufficient size to enable the groove 44 to be formed therein, ratherthan forming such a groove in a metal part such as in the top plate 30,at least in the area limmediately surrounding the cavities of the mold.

Many ychill molds are provided with a chill plate or a sink plate, suchas illustrated at 46 in FIGURE 3. This plate may be made of copper Iorother suitable high heat conductivity material .and is provided with anaperture 48 registering with each cav-ity in the mold and arranged forcommunication with the central passage in the core 38. This chill platemay be made of two parts, each fitted to one of the blocks of the mold,.and when the mold parts are fitted together 4these parts are similarlyfitted together, to form an effective unitary plate. When a ch-ill plate46 is used with the mold, the slide plate 40 is preferably interposed`between that chill plate and the assembly 10, and in this case also thehole for receiving the slide plate may be provided by forming va groovein either the chill plate, or the core 3S as shown, or both.

In the casting operation, in the use of the invention, the slide plate40 is operated basically in the same manner as the slide plate 23 in aknown kind of shut-off assembly. In other words, for pouring, the slideplate is positioned as in FIGURE 4 where the holes 49 therein are -inregister with the holes 48 in the sink plate. The molten metal .is thenpoured through the pouring tube, through the core and into the mold.After the mold is filled to the desired level, the slide plate is movedto a shut-off position in which the holes 49 therein are out of registerwith the cavities in the mold. Thereafter, subsequent operations areperformed as desired, such as removing the pouring tube 20 yand movingthe car on which the mold is supported `out of the pouring station.After the molten metal in the mold has frozen, the mold is opened andthe casting removed.

The shutoff plate 40, as mentioned above, is a throw- -away plate, orone designed for one-time use. This plate may be of extremely smallthickness, such as 1A or less, and it has been successfully used as thinas M3". The thickness may vary according to the size of the car and moldand hence generally according to the amount of power required to moveit. The plate is of ordinary iron or steel, including conventionalgalvanized iron, and is of a width necessary to accommodate the size ofthe cavities in the mold and to provide the desired strength.

The slide plate, according to the invention, is used in casting moltensteel of temperatures of in the neighborhood of 2900 F. In the use ofany kind of shut-off slide assemblies heretofore utilized, the spacesbetween the relatively movable members were quite critical. The shut-olfslide, such as 28 in FIGURE 1, usually in the neighborhood of 1" thickor more, Agenerally is moved to shut-off position while the pouring stepis being performed, and the molten metal becomes turbulent .as theresult of this fact. The molten metal tends .to pass into the spacesbetween the shut-off slide and the other elements engaged thereby, andproduces a binding effect on the shut-off slide, Vrendering it difficultto `recondition the slide after the pouring operation due to thenecessity of removing frozen particles or po-rtions of the molten metalin the slide channel etc. Also, the molten metal that remains in thecentral aperture in the shut-off slide, of course, freezes and tends tofreeze to the adjoining surfaces, including the upwardly facing surfaceof the support 26 and the downwardly facing surface of the .top plate30. It requires considerable effort and time to remove all traces ofsuch frozen metal from the elements 26 -and 30 and from the shut-offslide. Additionally, a great amount of force was required to remove alar-ge and massive slide plate such as 28.

In the present instance, the thin slide plate 40 can be easily slid toshut-off position, and that portion, or disc, of 4molten metal in theaperture of the slide plate cools much faster than heretofore because oflthe great conductivity of the metal of the slide plate. As a result,any tendency of this disc of molten metal to freeze to the adjoiningsurfaces was practically eliminated. This disc froze to the slide plate,but this `fact actually eliminates the freezing of the disc to othermembers. The slide plate 40 bein-g of extremely small dimensions andparticularly small thickness, comprises .a relatively small mass and itcan be thrown .away with a minimum of economic loss due to the cost ofthe material making up the slide plate.

An additional advantage of the invention is thatthe other hand if thosespaces were too great, the molten metal would find its way into themresulting in serious difficulties, as will be appreciated. In the caseof the present invention, the spaces may be consistently made on thesmaller side with minimum difculty in moving the slide plate because ofthe small size thereof and correspondingly less power required.

The thin slide plate 40 of the present invention performs a cuttingoperation, displacing only an extremely thin disc of molten metal, whileon the other hand the relatively thick slide plate such as 2'8 moved arelatively great mass of molten metal.

A further and great advantage of the invention is that although theslide plate is disposable, there is substantially no waste of materialbecause of that. The slide plate being made entirely of metal, togetherwith the disc of newly frozen metal therein, may be used as scrap in `asubsequent casting operation, with -the ancillary advantage that notime-consuming effort is required for removing yany frozen metal fromthe slide plate, as was the case in the use of devices heretofore known.

Attenti-on is now directed to special detailed constructions of slideplate for accommodating a pulling action for moving it to `shut-offposition.V These detailed constructions yare for the purpose ofreinforcing and strengthening the slide plate at the appropriate place.The slide plate may be either pushed or pulled, but more conveniently;pulled, and especially in the case of such a thin slide plate, Y

pulling eliminates all tendency to buckling thereof.' Referrin-g rst t-oFIGURE. 4, the pulling end of the slide plate is turned under, asindicated at 50, and the double l thickness end thereby formed providedwit-h a pair of holes 52 to receive hooks in the pulling motor.

In FIGURE 5, the pulling end is provided with a turned over piece toform a .transverse cylindrical hole 54 for receiving a pin on thepuller.

In FIGURE t6, the slide plate is provided with an eXtra transverse pieceS6 secured thereto -as by welding, this piece having a length,transversely of the slide plate,

greater `than the width of the latter, forming shoulders 58 forreceiving elements of the puller.

In FIGURE 7, the pulling end of the slide plate is provided with notches60 in the opposite side edges for receiving a pair of elements such aspins in the puller.

In FIGURES 8 and 9, the side plate 40 at its pulling L end is cutinwardly vfrom its side edges forming tabs 62` which are bent upwardlyto a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of the slide plate,these tabs forming shoulders 64 for engagement by a pair of elemen-ts inthe puller.

While we have herein shown and described certain preferred embodimen-tsof 4the invention, it will be under-` stood that changes may be madetherein within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Mold apparatus comprising a sub-assembly including core meansdefining a central passage therethrough, a

mold superposed upon said sub-assembly and having a cavity in registerwith said passage, and a shut-olf slide` plate interposed between thesub-assembly and mold, said slide plate being constituted entirely by astrip of iron of `a thickness not substantially greater than on theorder of Mi and having an aperture therein, said slide plate beingmovable between a filling position in which the aperture is in registerwith said passage and cavity, and a shut-or position in which it is outof such register.

2. r["he inventi-on .set out in claim 1 in which said subassembly andmold forma passage therebetween receiving said shutoff slide plate, saidpassage being formed by at least one rgroove in one of saidsub-'assembly and mold, said sub-assembly and mold having .interengagingsupport surfaces of substantial area on opposite sides of said passage.

3. The invention set out in claim 2 in which each sub- -assembly andmold has a groove formed therein, together forming a hole receiving saidslide plate, said hole being in cross-section shaped oonformably to saidslide plate, and the slide plate iitting snugly therein to substantiallyprevent yflow of molten metal therebetween.

4. The invention set out in claim 1 .in which said shutott slide plateis on the order of 1A" thick.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 adapted for use with molten metal of atemperature in the neighborhood of 2900 F. and in which the slide plateis constituted entirely of steel.

6. 'Ilhe invention set out in claim 1 in which the mold includes abottom chill plate of high Iheat conductivity metal, .and said shut-olislide .plate is interposed between said chill plate and saidsub-assembly.

7. The invention set out in claim 1 Vin which said core means iscomposed of refractory material and the mold includes graphite inengagement with said refractory material, and said shut-ot slide plateis engaged solely by said refractory material and graphite at least inregions surrounding said aperture in said shutdoff slide plate in allpositions of the latter, said sub-assembly and mold `havinginterengaging support surfaces of substantial area on opposite sides ofsaid passage.

y8. The invention set out in claim 1 in which the slide plate is of suchdimensions and proportions Vas to buckle in response to pushing actionin a casting operation, and is provided with means for engagement by apuller for pulling the slide plate to shut-off position.

`9. A method of cast-ing, in conjunction with a mold anda shut-oitsub-assembly, molten steel at a temperature in the neighborhood of 2900F., comprising utilizing, by a pulling action, a one-time shut-Cif slideplate composed entirely of steel for shutting-oilr communication betweenthe sub-assembly and mold, the slide plate being of such small thicknessand of such other dimensions and proportions so .as to buckle inresponse to pushing action in a casting operation.

References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,090,090 5/ 1963Woodburn 22--134 XR 3,186,039 l6/ 1965 Sylvester 22-69 3,192,581 7/ 1965Sylvester 22-69 XR I. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner.

R. S. ANNEAR, Assistant Examiner.

1. MOLD APPARATUS COMPRISING A SUB-ASSEMBLY INCLUDING CORE MEANSDEFINING A CENTRAL PASSAGE THERETHROUGH, A MOLD SUPERPOSED UPON SAIDSUB-ASSEMBLY AND HAVING A CAVITY IN REGISTER WITH SAID PASSAGE, AND ASHUT-OFF SLIDE PLATE INTERPOSED BETWEEN THE SUB-ASSEMBLY AND MOLD, SAIDSLIDE PLATE BEING CONSTITUTED ENTIRELY BY A STRIP OF IRON OF A THICKNESSNOT SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN ON THE ORDER OF 1/4" AND HAVING ANAPERTURE THEREIN, SAID SLIDE PLATE BEING MOVABLE BETWEEN A FILLINGPOSITION IN WHICH THE APERTURE IS IN REGISTER WITH SAID PASSAGE ANDCAVITY, AND A SHUT-OFF POSITION IN WHICH IT IS OUT OF SUCH REGISTER. 9.A METHOD OF CASTING, IN CONJUNCTION WITH A MOLD AND A SHUT-OFFSUB-ASSEMBLY, MOLTEN STEEL AT A TEMPERATURE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF2900*F., COMPRISING UTILIZING, BY A PULLING ACTION, A ONE-TIME SHUT-OFFSLIDE PLATE COMPOSED ENTIRELY OF STEEL FOR SHUTTING-OFF COMMUNICATIONBETWEEN THE SUB-ASSEMBLY AND MOLD, THE SLIDE PLATE BEING OF SUCH SMALLTHICKNESS AND OF SUCH OTHER DIMENSIONS AND PROPORTIONS SO AS TO BUCKLEIN RESPONSE TO PUSHING ACTION IN A CASTING OPERATION.